# A good set of generic questions...

Thomas Wouters (zonny@dds.nl)
Sun, 12 May 1996 00:54:44 +0200 (MET DST)

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    On Sat, 11 May 1996, David HM Spector wrote:

    > 3) Is there an archive anywhere of installation kits/tools (not just
    > raw code) for various MOO objects..?

    > I think there needs to be some more tools/examples to help people get
    > their Moo endeavors off to a running start, if there is no such animal
    > (archive), I would be willing to host such a site, if I can pull
    > together enough things to make it worthwhile...

    I like the archive idea, though i do not think one site is enough, not
    for the whole world at least :) The files are mostly text, so the
    compressed or Gzipped versions shouldn't take up that much space...

    As for tools for installing them, the simplest is just a '@dump with
    create id=#^#REPLACE#^#', then create the object you need (the parent of
    the @dumped object) note the object number, and replace #^#REPLACE#^# with
    that number, in your favorite editor (provided it's not Pico ;) and
    quote/cut-n-paste the whole thing into your telnet/TF connection.

    A few problems might arise though - You need at least a similar core
    (true in most core-additions, of course), you need the parents of the
    object, or a @dump of them too, and you need to be able to either quote
    (Whaaat ? no TinyFugue ?? ;) or cut-and-paste into your moo-connection.
    And it has to arrive properly :) As i understand, pasting doesn't always
    work (like when using iScreen) and from my own experiences with Ewan, i
    would bet Windows telnet apps would choke and die shouting 'General
    Protection Error' :-)

    (By the way, if anyone knows a good windows (95) telnet application that
    doesn't crash every ten minutes or when you try to open more windows or
    change their configuration, please, please, let me know, for i am
    somtimes forced to work on such stravag, freebirth would-be operating
    systems :)

    A nice solution would be to have an external program to log onto your
    moo, check the database/server version, check for parents and $utils and
    such, and create the object(s) necessary, if any... But this would mean a
    massive program with a massive, massive database of all MOO
    Core and server versions... (Not to mention the massive, massive, massive
    lag it would create in the MOO it's verifying ;-)

    One might be able to create it, put it on a server, make a nice
    web-interface to fit the latest fashion ;-) but it would still offer lots
    of difficulties, not the least of which would be giving away a (wizard)
    password or connection...

    But, thats all science fiction, and however attractive that might be, it's
    not very realistic :) So for now, the best way is to @dump and /quote, and
    fix any inconsitensies by hand. This does mean, however, that you need to
    be skilled in writing MOO verbs, and finding and repairing errors... Not
    really what you want when creating a MOO archive for newbies :) What a
    newbie archive should contain is just /example/-code and lots of
    helpfiles and FAQs. And if you put object-@dumps in there, make sure they
    have lots of help info and a warning/disclaimer :)

    Thomas.

    PS - I use moo-cows@parc.xerox.com... dunno why, prolly cuz Pavel does ;-)

    Thomas Wouters   |   Visit The Digitale City (DDS)   | Forever an Addict to
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